The 25th FAI World Hot Air Balloon Championship kicked off
The 25th FAI World Hot Air Balloon Championship officially kicked off yesterday evening with the opening ceremony at Szeged Airport. Due to the weather conditions, the hot air balloons could not yet take off today.
"This year marks the 25th edition of the FAI World Hot Air Balloon Championship. This is the second time Hungary has hosted it, having already done so in 2010," explained Viktor Knezevics, managing director of Szeged Transport Company (SZKT), which operates Airport Szeged, after the opening ceremony on Sunday.
"There are competitors from 31 countries, which means 120 teams, but there will also be 14 so-called fiesta balloons, so if they take off together, there will be more than 130 balloons in the sky at the same time. Competitors came from all five continents, with the farthest coming from Japan, Brazil, and Australia. We also have new competitors such as Armenia and Egypt, who are competing at the World Championship for the first time," he added.
Viktor Knezevics pointed out that the fact that the World Championship is being held here is a great recognition of the way Szeged handles the sport of ballooning and aviation. As he said, there is a World Cup in Szeged every year, and in 2021 Szeged and the Szeged Airport hosted the European Hot Air Balloon Championship. For this reason, with the support of the Municipality of Szeged, they applied for the right to host this year's World Championship and won against Rome and Mallorca.
If weather conditions permit, the balloons will take off from different locations in the mornings and late afternoons. Regular updates are posted on the event's Facebook page. A collective take-off is scheduled for Friday late afternoon, where all balloons will take off at the same time from Szeged Airport. However, this is subject to change based on the weather.
Photos: Szilvia Molnar / Szegedify
